Feud rages below surface

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As Lleyton Hewitt gears up for his ninth assault on the
Australian Open title, another battle is raging behind the scenes -
between Team Hewitt and tournament director Paul McNamee.

Hewitt rounded off his open preparation with a 7-5, 6-0 victory
over Czech Ivo Minar in the Sydney International final yesterday,
but off-court the Hewitt camp is engaging in a bitter factional war
that has divided Australian tennis.

Tennis circles were abuzz during the week with news of a heated
mobile phone conversation between Hewitt's coach, Roger Rasheed,
and McNamee about the Melbourne Park playing surface. During the
call, Rasheed is believed to have told McNamee his job was on the
line.

"Who told you that? The IRA?" Rasheed asked when contacted.
Rasheed would not confirm or deny he had spoken to McNamee, but
added: "We don't have a relationship (with McNamee). I don't care
if we do. Paul will do what's best for him and we'll do what's best
for us."

McNamee has been reluctant to comment on the feud and maintained
that stance yesterday. The drama flared when Hewitt labelled the
Melbourne Park surface "cowshit" and when his sister Jaslyn missed
out on a wildcard, given to slightly lower-ranked Monique Adamczak.
But the acrimony runs far deeper, extending from a bitter rift that
has engulfed Tennis Australia in the past six weeks.

Newly appointed Tennis Australia board member Peter Ritchie and
former and present Davis Cup captains John Newcombe and John
Fitzgerald are leading a push for a drastic overhaul of tennis
administration in Australia after a damning government-backed
report released early last month.

Ritchie helped pressure Tennis Australia chairman Geoff Pollard
into relinquishing his role as chief executive and said publicly
that McNamee should not be his replacement. Ritchie has also
publicly backed Fitzgerald as the director of player development.
Fitzgerald has expressed interest in combining the job with his
role as Davis Cup captain, but many at Tennis Australia consider
the two positions incompatible.

Hewitt has gravitated towards the Ritchie faction because of his
allegiance to Newcombe and Fitzgerald through the Davis Cup.

"Lleyton's a valuable pawn in all this," said a Tennis Australia
insider. "Lleyton would prefer to have someone in place who is more
favourable towards him when he comes to play the Australian Open.
But those behind this push aren't stupid; there's a lot to gain in
having the country's best player on their side."

Some at Tennis Australia believe Hewitt wants to align himself
with officials more sympathetic to his cause than McNamee. Hewitt
has directed several barbs at the tournament boss, who is widely
credited with transforming the Australian Open during his 10-year
tenure. Apart from saying that he's "had a gutful" of trying to
convince McNamee to quicken the surface, Hewitt is believed to have
upset McNamee by bypassing this year's Hopman Cup, which is run by
McNamee.

Pollard said: "Rebound Ace has been able to tweak its surface a
little this year, and we're quite comfortable with it. It would
appear we haven't done enough for what Lleyton wants."